TheJoker
Registered user
Gents,
I've ummmed-and-aaaared a long time about the bars on my bike. A very long time I bought a set of Renthals from my "local" friendly MX shop. At the time, Dave only had a set of blue anodised bars in...Yikes I thought, but hey, it'd be good for a laugh.
The bars have to be the FatBars or the Twinwalls as Tobers has got as the BMW bars are thicker in the center.
I've followed the thread This weekend I will mostly be fitting Renthal Twinwalls with great interest, but hadn't found the guts and/or the time to do it. I also want to keep my brush guards on, but as it's summer now I can live without them.
Anyhooo.. Yesterday evening I finally pulled my thumb out and got on with it. It took me maybe 1.5h in total, and that's taking it very steady, including "tapping the holes" in the new bars.
The new bars are 80cm width, whereas the OEM bars should be 83cm (forgot to measure on the bike), so the new ones are a bit narrower, but as they're far forward, they feel quite the same. I might cut them a bit to make them narrower, but that's something for another time.
The holes on the LHS were quite easy to make, I found a very sharp drill (surprise!) and it cut very nicely into the (thick) alloy. The original screws are self tapping, so I just carefully screwed them in, reversing once in a while to let the "cutting dust" out, and easy-peasy; new holes.
The best way to assemble/disassemble is to remove the electrickery controls first, then the grips, then the mirrors/levers. Reverse to assemble.
Big thanks to Tobers and Mouse (I think) who've done the initial research.
The result is a bike that feels much smaller, and nimbler. The bars also feel much sturdier and it feels like the bike is much more solid. Riding position is more forward, which is what I like (I don't have a plank up my **se
), it's probably a little less comfortable, but more focused. Lookswise the bars look quite good (even if they're anodised blue!), the bike looks more focused and "means mo' bidniss!". I'll report more once I've put some miles on it: Thinking of that, this might have been a bad thing to do the w/e before the National Rallye!
First, the difference between the OEM and the new bars.
I've ummmed-and-aaaared a long time about the bars on my bike. A very long time I bought a set of Renthals from my "local" friendly MX shop. At the time, Dave only had a set of blue anodised bars in...Yikes I thought, but hey, it'd be good for a laugh.
The bars have to be the FatBars or the Twinwalls as Tobers has got as the BMW bars are thicker in the center.
I've followed the thread This weekend I will mostly be fitting Renthal Twinwalls with great interest, but hadn't found the guts and/or the time to do it. I also want to keep my brush guards on, but as it's summer now I can live without them.
Anyhooo.. Yesterday evening I finally pulled my thumb out and got on with it. It took me maybe 1.5h in total, and that's taking it very steady, including "tapping the holes" in the new bars.
The new bars are 80cm width, whereas the OEM bars should be 83cm (forgot to measure on the bike), so the new ones are a bit narrower, but as they're far forward, they feel quite the same. I might cut them a bit to make them narrower, but that's something for another time.
The holes on the LHS were quite easy to make, I found a very sharp drill (surprise!) and it cut very nicely into the (thick) alloy. The original screws are self tapping, so I just carefully screwed them in, reversing once in a while to let the "cutting dust" out, and easy-peasy; new holes.
The best way to assemble/disassemble is to remove the electrickery controls first, then the grips, then the mirrors/levers.
Reverse to assemble.Big thanks to Tobers and Mouse (I think) who've done the initial research.
The result is a bike that feels much smaller, and nimbler. The bars also feel much sturdier and it feels like the bike is much more solid. Riding position is more forward, which is what I like (I don't have a plank up my **se
), it's probably a little less comfortable, but more focused. Lookswise the bars look quite good (even if they're anodised blue!), the bike looks more focused and "means mo' bidniss!". I'll report more once I've put some miles on it: Thinking of that, this might have been a bad thing to do the w/e before the National Rallye!First, the difference between the OEM and the new bars.
)
